Former Ivory Coast rebel leader Soro eyes presidency

DAKAR - Former Ivory Coast rebel leader Guillaume Soro has announced he will run in next year’s presidential election, a vote seen as a major test of stability in the country after two civil wars this century. Soro, 47, led the rebels that tried and failed to oust former President Laurent Gbagbo in 2002, dividing the country for nearly a decade until a second civil war in 2010-11 installed Alassane Ouattara in the presidency instead. But Soro has since fallen out with Ouattara and his candidacy could open fissures within the ruling coalition because the president is widely expected to bac his prime minister, madou Gon Coulibaly, in the 2020 election. Ivory oast is the world’s largest producer of cocoa and was the fastest growing economy in West Africa last year, than s to its agriculture, construction and retail sectors. “There are pro oro political parties that have already chosen me as their candidate,” Soro said in a video of remar s to supporters in pain over the wee end posted on his aceboo page. o, I will be a candidate.” Ouattara, 77, has said he intends to hand power to a younger generation at the 2020 election but he has also argued that a constitutional change in 2016 cancels out previous term limits, so he could stand again. His opponents dispute this. oro has served in the past as prime minister and spea er of parliament. nalysts say his relative youth and charisma could ma e him a strong candidate.He also retains the loyalty of many former rebel commanders who now hold senior positions in the national army and control access to large stoc s of weapons, analysts say. oro is the first ma or politician to announce his candidacy. There is a chance he could be up against bagbo, the president his rebels drove from power in after a disputed election. Gbagbo, who was freed by the International Criminal Court in The Hague in February after being acquitted of war crimes during the civil war, has not yet said whether he will run.